Australia Post trials drone deliveries

news Australia Post has announced the it will be the “first major parcels and logistics company” in Australia to trial package delivery by remotely piloted aircraft, also called drones.

The post service said using drones would provide customers with more choice over how and when they receive their deliveries.

Australia Post said it is working with local start-up ARI Labs, developers of proprietary drone technology, to demonstrate the reliability and applications of the technology.

The closed-field trial is planned to reveal whether the new technology can potentially deliver small parcels safely and securely to customers’ homes. The service could also prove valuable in providing faster transportation of time-critical items such as medication.

A customer trial is expected to follow later this year.

Ahmed Fahour, Australia Post’s Managing Director and Group CEO said the trial is one of a number of innovations the organisation is exploring following double-digit growth in e-commerce and online shopping over the past five years.

“Australia Post has been adapting to changing customer needs and new technological advancements for over 200 years. This trial is another exciting example of how we’re looking to the future with emerging technologies to make life easier for our customers,” Fahour said.

“Today’s online shopper expects to receive their purchase whenever and wherever they want. RPAs may be another way to help make our customers’ lives easier and builds on our existing 24/7 Parcel Lockers and MyPost service,” he said.

Fahour explained that Australia Post will put the new technology through its paces over coming months to determine “what it can deliver, how far it can travel, and ultimately, how our customers could receive a parcel”.

While drone technology will continue to evolve over the coming years and its future role at Australia Post is unclear, the company suggested there may be opportunities for time-critical deliveries or where there are significant distances between the road and front door.

The drone trial builds on Australia Post’s recently announced $20 million innovation fund where the organisation will directly invest in e-commerce businesses with concepts that could improve the lives of its customers.

Doesn’t it just! Especially when its a post office that is only open during business hours (and not the other one down the road that’s open OMG on a Saturday morning)!

Pretty much these days I cringe when I see an online store delivers via Aust. post simply because its a real pain to pick the parcel up (because I cannot even specify for it to be left on my stoop)! I’ve even had the little cards left our companies letter box!!

To be fair the packages will prolly be delivered in a much better condition..

I’ve seen the way some of those contactors handle packages and I’ve had many a package marked “fragile” w/ dings and holes on the box. At least the folks I order from actually pack the boxes really well w/ lots of bubblewrap/padding + space.

We’ve had two postmen ‘deliver’ parcels by standing at the end of the driveway and throwing the package at the front door (about 4m distance). In both occasions we were lucky enough to be home and watch it happen. The resolution? An up to three month enquiry during which we must relinquish the item to Australia Post. We didn’t pursue it further and just lived with the damage. £#@& you AusPost.

And before you ask, yes these were postmen, not parcel delivery contractors.

Anything is better than the current system, such a hopeless operation. Parcels don’t delivered to the correct address, we don’t even get a slip. Only when we tried to look up the tracking number, we find out apprently they tried to deliver. When you go to post office to complain. They claim they have nothing to do with it, the parcel delivery is different to us, we have nothing to do with it. From my point of view its Aust POST, i don’t care if your letter deliver is different to your parcel delivery. Only Aust Post can increase the fees and provide horrible service.

It’s the contactors who do parcel deliveries. Indeed some of them are absolutely useless and unfortunately they “worst” that can happen is they get some black mark on their name so they “may” not be called in to deliver… maybe?

Yeah, that’d be right. Put some new lippy on to cover up the real catastrophe.

Like, when will we customers be able to track parcels inbound from any other country without first having to travel to a Mail Center and ask them to look for it? Of course, for this system to work, it means that all parcels must be scanned at every node. That means that AusPost must invest in what, how many? 10,000 new scanners? And install how many? 500 new computers to deal with the scanners?

Of course the drone option is almost certainly a lot cheaper and much sexier…

So the Government privatised Telecom Australia right before the digital boom and now we are left 30yr+ behind other developed countries.
Yet the government continues to keep this archaic form of messaging service alive with taxpayer money?
AusPost should be privatised! It has no future!

Welcome! We were an energetic and engaged community of Australians who worked with or who were interested in technology -- all sorts of IT professionals, IT managers, CIOs, tech policy-makers and tech enthusiasts.